I only created jinn and man to worship Me. I do not require any provision from them and I do not require them to nourish Me. Truly Allah, He is the Provider, the Possessor of Strength, the Sure. (Surat adh-Dhariyat: 56-58)

A wise person is one who keeps a watch over his bodily desires and passions, and checks himself from that which is harmful and strives for that which will benefit him after death; and a foolish person is one who subordinates himself to his cravings and desires and expects from Allah the fulfilment of his futile desires. (Tirmidhi)

Allah gave the glad tidings of Paradise to those who preferred to sacrifice their worldly possessions to gain His assent, instead of pursuing them obsessively. He informed humanity that they should only in this manner attain happiness and success, as in the following verse:

Allah has bought from the believers their selves and their wealth in return for the Garden. They fight in the Way of Allah and they kill and are killed. It is a promise binding on Him in the Torah, the Injil and the Qur'an and who is truer to his contract than Allah? Rejoice then in the bargain you have made. That is the great victory. (Surat at-Tawba: 111)

Therefore, true believers should carefully refrain from becoming passionately attached to their wealth and their selves. The soul will certainly incite a man to these motives. However, a believer who is aware of the promise of Allah could in no way incline to his lower-soul. Hence, nothing gained through one's property or personal effort in this worldly life could match the eternal blessings of the hereafter. Therefore, Allah instructs men to "rejoice in your bargain that you have made." Humans are destined to enjoy the blessings of this world only briefly. At death, one will be forced to leave behind not only his body, but also the belongings he had accumulated. The blessings to be bestowed by Allah in the hereafter are the true means for one's attainment of success or happiness.

If one worries about his belongings and of his life, then it will be impossible for him to approach unto Allah with a sincere heart, to duly surrender himself to Him. These passions that are hidden deep in his soul will direct him furtively, and cause him to act on behalf of his own gain rather than for Allah's consent. For instance, when he encounters someone in need, he prefers to secure his own benefit rather than giving alms and support to the needy. Yet, as Allah has informed in the verse below, that which is more representative of sincerity is to willingly give to another, even if it means he will have to do without:

Those who were already settled in the abode [i.e., Medina], and in faith, before they came, love those who have migrated to them and do not find in their hearts any need for what they have been given and prefer them to themselves even if they themselves are needy. It is the people who are safe-guarded from the avarice of their own selves who are successful. (Surat al-Hashr: 9)

Similarly, his personal desires will overshadow his concern for gaining Allah's consent. Allah informs us in the Qur'an that such a choice will only bring disgrace:

Say: "If your fathers or your sons or your brothers or your wives or your tribe, or any wealth you have acquired, or any business you fear may slump, or any house which pleases you, are dearer to you than Allah and His Messenger and striving in His Way, then wait until Allah brings about His command. Allah does not guide people who are deviators." (Surat at-Tawba: 24)

As outlined by Our Lord, one's wealth will not be of any avail in the hereafter: "His wealth will not help him when he plummets to the depths." (Surat al-Layl: 11) However, only those who are sincere will be rewarded with endless and eternal blessings:

Those who best perform their duty will be far removed from it: those who give their wealth to purify themselves -not to repay someone else for a favor done-desiring only the Face of their Lord Most High. They will certainly be satisfied. (Surat al-Layl: 17-21)

The Qur'an relates various examples of the condition of those who worry as much for their lives as for their wealth. Thus they lose their sincerity, and become unable to gain Allah's consent. When the Prophet (saas) invited people to fight with their selves for Allah's sake, some said that, "Had we been able to, we would have gone out with you" (Surat at-Tawba: 42) and others voiced, "Do not go out to fight in the heat." (Surat at-Tawba: 81) Hence, they preferred their own selves by putting forth excuses. While fabricating such excuses, some went beyond that by pronoucing an oath by Allah to demonstrate that they were speaking the truth. However, Allah affirmed that He was well aware of their lies, that they have committed their souls to punishment for their insincerity.

Believers should strive hard with their property and their selves to gain Allah's consent. In another of His verses, Allah gave the glad tidings to the true believers that those who strive hard in His way, with their belongings and persons, and those who grant a greater importance to Allah's consent, will have a higher degree with Him. The verse states as follows:

Those believers who stay behind-other than those forced to by necessity-are not the same as those who strive in the Way of Allah, sacrificing their wealth and themselves. Allah has given those who strive with their wealth and themselves a higher rank than those who stay behind. Allah has promised the Best to both, but Allah has preferred those who strive over those who stay behind by an immense reward. (Surat an-Nisa': 95)

At one time or another, most people have probably run their fingers through a bird's feather they found lying on the ground or caught falling from a bird that was flying through the air. Probably they have noticed the symmetrical structure of the feather, the thinner structures of soft feathers coming off each side, which look as if they interlock onto each other. In fact, if they had the chance to examine this bird feather under a microscope, their astonishment at the marvelous design before them would increase even more.

In the middle part of the feather is a long, hard tube. The barbs of the feather extend from both sides of this tube. These feathers, whose lengths and softness vary, give the bird the ability to use the air in the most suitable way. In addition, when we go into further details, we encounter even more interesting structures. Each barb has smaller strands attached to them which are called "barbules" and cannot be seen with the naked eye. These barbules are locked together with tiny microscopic hooks called "hamuli." By means of these hooklets, barbules are interlocked onto their neighbors like a zipper. 1

On every single feather of a crane there are 650 barbs on each side of the shaft. On each one of these barbs are 600 barbules. These barbules are tied together with 390 hooklets. The hooklets are clamped together like two sides of a zipper. These barbules, which lock onto their neighbors with hooklets, are so close together that if smoke is blown onto the feather, no smoke escapes to the other side. If the hooklets are unlocked for some reason, it is enough for the bird to shake itself or, in more severe cases, to straighten its feathers with its beak, to make the feathers return to their previous state. The structure of a bird's feathers is very important for flying. The bird can fly because its wings don't allow the air to pass through them.

Besides the detailed design in the birds' feathers, the rich color diversity in them is striking as well. This diversity occurs due to pigments present in the feathers which are stored when the feather first starts to develop and also because of light movements. The feathers, which are made up of keratin, are renewed at certain intervals as they wear out in a very short time due to environmental conditions. However, the bird regains its colorful feathers each time. This is because the feathers of a bird continue to develop until they reach the necessary length, and attain the unique color and design typical of its kind.

The countless diversity of color and patterns in the birds' feathers, along with the detailed design of the wings, are evidence which show us the magnificent artistry and knowledge of Allah in creation.

WHY IS IT WRONG TO THINK THAT EVOLUTION COULD BE
CONFIRMED IN THE FUTURE?

HARUN YAHYA

When forced into a corner, some people who support the theory of evolution resort to the claim "Even if scientific discoveries do not confirm the theory of evolution today, such developments will take place in the future."

There is no difference between the absurdity of claiming that a jet could form by chance and that a living cell could do so. The design in a living cell is many times superior to that in a jet created by the best engineers and most advanced robots, with the most developed technology, in the most modern plants.

Yet science does not function by such logic. A scientist does not first of all blindly devote himself to a theory, hoping that one day the evidence to prove that theory will emerge. Science examines the available evidence and draws conclusions from it. That is why scientists should accept the "design," or the fact of creation in other words, which scientific discoveries have proved.

Despite this, however, evolutionist incitement and propaganda can still influence people, especially those who are not fully conversant with the theory. For this reason, it will be useful to set out the reply in full:

We can consider the validity of the theory of evolution with three basic questions:

1. How did the first living cell emerge?

2. How can one living species turn into another?

3. Is there any evidence in the fossil record that living things underwent such a process?

A great deal of serious research has been carried out during the twentieth century into these three questions, which the theory simply has to answer. What this research has revealed, however, is that the theory of evolution cannot account for life. This will become apparent when we consider these questions one by one.

1. The question of the "first cell" is the most deadly dilemma for the proponents of evolution. Research on the subject has revealed that it is impossible to explain the emergence of the first cell by means of the concept of "chance." Fred Hoyle puts it this way:

The chance that higher life forms might have emerged in this way is comparable to the chance that a tornado sweeping through a junk-yard might assemble a Boeing 747 from the materials therein. 1

Scientific developments have revealed the perfection in life on the system, organ, tissue, cellular, and even molecular levels. Every new detail we grasp enables us to see the wondrous dimension of this design a little more clearly. Today, it is impossible to find even one scientist who does not admit that each individual part of the cell is a magnificent work of art and design on its own. Even the membrane of a tiny cell, which has been described as a "selective filter," contains enormous intelligence and design. It recognizes the atoms, proteins, and molecules around it as if it possessed a consciousness of its own, and only allows into the cell those which are needed. (For further details, see Harun Yahya's Consciousness in the Cell.) Unlike the limited intelligent design in the clock, living organisms are stunning artifacts of intelligence and design. Far from proving evolution, the ever wider-ranging and detailed research that is carried out into living structures, only some of whose make-up and functions have been uncovered so far, allows us to understand the truth of creation even better.

2. Evolutionists maintain that one species can turn into another by means of mutation and natural selection. All the research carried out on the matter has shown that neither mechanism has any evolutionary effect whatsoever. Research into mutation shows that it has no evolutionary properties. The American geneticist B. G. Ranganathan says:

First, genuine mutations are very rare in nature. Secondly, most mutations are harmful since they are random, rather than orderly changes in the structure of genes; any random change in a highly ordered system will be for the worse, not for the better. For example, if an earthquake were to shake a highly ordered structure such as a building, there would be a random change in the framework of the building, which, in all probability, would not be an improvement. 2

The mechanisms that the theory of evolution suggests for the formation of species are completely ineffective, and actually harmful. It has been understood that these mechanisms, which were proposed when science and technology had not yet advanced to the level necessary to show that the claim was nothing but the product of fantasy, have no developmental or evolutionary effects.

3. Fossils also show that life did not emerge as the result of any evolutionary process, but that it came about suddenly, the product of perfect "design." All the fossils that have ever been found confirm this. Niles Eldredge, the well-known paleontologist from Harvard University and curator of the American Museum of Natural History, explains that there is no possibility that any fossils that might be found in the future could change the situation:

The record jumps, and all the evidence shows that the record is real: the gaps we see reflect real events in life's history-not the artifact of a poor fossil record. 3

In conclusion, some 150 years have gone by since the theory of evolution was first put forward, and all subsequent scientific developments have worked against it. The more science has examined the details of life, the more evidence for the perfection of creation has been found, and the more it has been understood that the emergence of life and its subsequent variation by chance is quite impossible. Every piece of research reveals new evidence of the design in living things, and makes the fact of creation ever clearer. Every decade that has passed since Darwin's time has just revealed the invalidity of the theory of evolution even more.

In short, scientific advances do not favour the theory of evolution. For that reason, further developments in the future will not do so either, but will demonstrate its invalidity even further.

Although the divine religions contain different rules in the light of the climate and conditions in which they were revealed, they essentially offer the same model of belief and morality. They have all offered the same fundamental truths regarding such matters as the existence, oneness and attributes of God, how He should be served, the kind of behaviour He finds pleasing, how one should live and behave, the concepts of good and bad, right and wrong, how people should order their lives in this world, and how one can obtain eternal life .

The divine books that were revealed before the Qur'an contain sections that agree with it. The names of these books appear in the Qur'an, and they also encourage peace and love. In this section we shall consider such sections of the Old and New Testaments, with their statements in favour of love, peace and tolerance. We will also look at those commands in which terror and oppression are prohibited, and describe how Jews and Christians from all over the world must take action in the light of these commands to oppose terrorism.